Ball State University Athletics
Three Women's Volleyball Players Pick Up Academic Honors
November 10, 2005 | Women's Volleyball
Muncie, Ind. - - Three members of the Ball State women's volleyball team have been named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V University Division Women's Volleyball Team, which was announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Seniors Sarah Obras (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights H.S.) and Stephanie Bacan (Remsen, Iowa/St. Mary's H.S.) earned recognition on the first team, while redshirt sophomore Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) was named to the third team. Obras and Bacan will now have their names placed on the national ballot for the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women's Volleyball Team, which will be announced Nov. 30.
This year's team was voted on by members of CoSIDA from District V, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. To qualify for Academic All-District, student-athletes must hold at least sophomore status, own a minimum grade-point average of 3.2 and be either a starter or key reserve for their team.
Obras, an accounting major with a 3.86 grade-point average, picks up the honor for the third time in her career after being named to the first team as a junior and the second team as a sophomore. The first player in Mid-American Conference history to record 1,500 kills and 1,500 digs in a career, Obras enters the weekend 22 kills shy of the all-time league record of 1,907. In addition, her 1,589 career digs ranks second in school annals and is the seventh-highest total in MAC history.
This season, Obras has started 24 of BSU's 25 matches, while playing in 89 of a possible 92 games. She is currently averaging 3.91 digs per game and 3.03 kills per game from the outside attacker position. At the service line, Obras has tallied 24 aces for a 0.27 aces-per-game average. In addition to being named the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week (Oct. 17-23), Obras is a two-time Academic All-MAC selection.
Bacan, a sports administration major with a 3.82 grade-point average, is a first-time ESPN The Magazine honoree. Originally given a medical redshirt for the 2002 season, Bacan has elected to forgo her redshirt year of eligibility and will graduate in May. After seeing limited action her first two seasons due to injury, Bacan has played in 49 of BSU's last 55 matches entering the weekend. Moved from an outside/middle attacker her first two seasons, to a defensive specialist the last two, Bacan has tallied 426 career digs, including a career-best 17 on four occasions.
This season, Bacan has played in 21 of the team's 25 matches, while seeing action in 73 of a possible 92 games. In the backcourt, she has collected 187 digs for a career-best 2.56 digs-per-game average. Bacan currently paces the team with a 0.33 aces-per-game average, having dealt out 24 aces.
Parrell, a secondary education in life science and physics major with a 3.77 grade-point average, is also a first-time ESPN The Magazine honoree. In her second year with the program, she is already climbing the BSU career charts, ranking eighth in school annals with 1,423 assists. Last week, Parrell became just the seventh Cardinal to post over 1,000 assists in a season, when she collected a career-best 69 at Akron (Nov. 4).
This season, Parrell has started all 25 matches and played in all 92 games for the Cardinals. She currently ranks eighth in the league with an 11.61 assists-per-game average. She has recorded 30-or-more assists in 23 matches this year, while scoring 40-or-more 14 times, 50-or-more seven times and 60-or-more twice. Named the MAC West Division Player of the Week for the period of Aug. 21-28, Parrell also earned recognition on the Georgetown Hoya Classic All-Tournament Team.
